Before Using

Allergies

Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to medicines in this group or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully.

Pediatric

Although there is no specific information comparing use of progestins in children or teenagers with use in other age groups, this medicine is not expected to cause different side effects or problems in children or teenagers than it does in adults.

Geriatric

This medicine has been tested and has not been shown to cause different side effects or problems in older people than it does in younger adults.

Pregnancy

Progesterone, a natural hormone that the body makes during pregnancy, has not caused problems. In fact, it is sometimes used in women to treat a certain type of infertility and to aid in egg donor or infertility procedures.

Other progestins have not been studied in pregnant women. Be sure to tell your doctor if you become pregnant while using any of the progestins. It is best to use some kind of birth control method while you are receiving progestins in high doses. High doses of progestins are not recommended for use during pregnancy since there have been some reports that they may cause birth defects in the genitals (sex organs) of a male fetus. Also, some of these progestins may cause male-like changes in a female fetus and female-like changes in a male fetus, but these problems usually can be reversed. Low doses of progestins, such as those doses used for contraception, have not caused major problems when used accidentally during pregnancy.

Breastfeeding

Although progestins pass into the breast milk, they have not been shown to cause problems in nursing babies. However, progestins may change the quality or amount (increase or decrease) of the mother's breast milk. It may be necessary for you to take another medicine or to stop breast-feeding during treatment. Be sure you have discussed the risks and benefits of the medicine with your doctor.

Drug Interactions

Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking any of these medicines, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive.

Using medicines in this class with any of the following medicines is not recommended. Your doctor may decide not to treat you with a medication in this class or change some of the other medicines you take.

Boceprevir

Dofetilide

Tranexamic Acid

Using medicines in this class with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines.

Aripiprazole

Carbamazepine

Ceritinib

Dabrafenib

Eliglustat

Eslicarbazepine Acetate

Felbamate

Fentanyl

Idelalisib

Insulin Degludec

Isotretinoin

Mitotane

Nilotinib

Piperaquine

Siltuximab

Theophylline

Tizanidine

Other Interactions

Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. Discuss with your healthcare professional the use of your medicine with food, alcohol, or tobacco.

Other Medical Problems

The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of medicines in this class. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:

Asthma or

Epilepsy (or history of) or

Heart or circulation problems or

Kidney disease (severe) or

Migraine headaches—Progestins may cause fluid retention which may cause these conditions to become worse.

Bleeding problems, undiagnosed, such as blood in the urine or changes in vaginal bleeding—May make diagnosis of these problems more difficult.

Blood clots, or history of or

Breast cancer, or history of or

Deep vein thrombosis (blood clot in the leg), active or history of or

Heart attack, active or history of or

Liver disease, including jaundice, or history of or

Pulmonary embolism (clot in the lung), active or history of or

Stroke , active or history of or

Venous thromboembolism (clot in the veins), or history of—Progestins should not be used in patients with these conditions.

Breast disease (such as breast lumps or cysts), history of—May make this condition worse for diseases that do not react in a positive way to progestins.

Diabetes mellitus—May cause an increase in your blood sugar and a change in the amount of medicine you take for diabetes; progestins in high doses are more likely to cause this problem.

Memory loss (dementia)—May make this condition worse.

Vision changes—This medicine may cause changes in vision; your medicine may need to be stopped if these conditions become worse.